Carmack frees Quake on GamesRadar is a Q&A with the id Software Technical
Director about Quake Live, id's upcoming free shooter (thanks
Voodoo Extreme). Along the way he offers thoughts on Crysis, expressing an
interesting perspective from someone who has spent so much time exploring the
cutting edge of game engine technology:

Obviously, we have examples like
World of Warcraft that show how the PC can be viable and vibrant in its own way.
But in terms of first-person shooters, if you look at something like Crysis and
say thatís the height of what the PC market can manage, I donít think thatís
necessarily that exciting of a direction for the PC to be going in the future.
With Quake Live, we hope that thereís an opportunity for people whoíve never
played shooters to give this a try, and with that, the potential of actually
growing the PC gaming market. I still have a lot of a faith in simple gameplay
formulas - it might not be the game that everyone plays for three hours a day to
be the best at, but itís something that offices, dorms, and schools across
America can have fun with.

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Not yet possible. GTA4 required an expansive, populated, detailed environment. Which is pretty much impossible to have along with Crysis level graphics, due to fill rate and processor limitations.

Every game is a trade-off. You lower the quality in one area in order to have enough resources to improve the quality elsewhere. The goal is to design your trade-offs so that people don't mind, or notice.

Few people cared that the character models in GTA4 weren't that detailed, because you never got really up close and personal with a 3rd person game. The focus was on the large, detailed environments and the varied pedestrians you interact with. But cookie-cutter opponents that look and act identical are the norm in shooters like Crysis. Every game makes different choices.

But you can't have your cake and eat it too. Tons of fancy graphics mean less hardware left over to handle unique AI.